Sustainable Infrastructure Plan: Mid-Season Update

Public Works is in the middle of its second year of implementation of the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan - to reinvest in our sidewalks, streets and water mains. As we near the halfway point in the construction season, we want to offer you an update on progress and next steps. During this construction season, we have repaved over 3 miles of roads, reconstructed approximately 1.2 miles of sidewalks and have completed a significant upgrade of water mains on Maple St and upper Pine St. We will also be undertaking a critical preventative maintenance effort by ‘crack-sealing’ miles of roads and diamond cutting sidewalks - preserving these assets and extending their life. Our crews are ready to go and with more good weather we are on pace to exceed last year’s ambitious season when we repaved over 5 miles of roads, reconstructed 3 miles of sidewalks and upgraded over 2 miles of water mains.

LOWER DOWNTOWN

We have finished our water main upgrades on Maple (between Battery & St. Paul) and Pine (between Main and Maple). We have laid a base course of asphalt on Maple and will raise structures and finish with a top coat in August. During work, traffic between Battery and St. Paul will be eastbound only.

Burlington’s Great Streets project will begin in late summer on St. Paul - where we will reconstruct sidewalks, repave the roads, bury overhead utilities and add extensive stormwater upgrades. We have altered our start date and traffic plans for this project -- between Main and Maple -- and work will now begin in September. At that point, with summer tourism winding down and the projects to the west complete, we hope any disruptions will have minimal impact on residents and businesses. There will also be over 50 publicly accessible spaces at the recently completed 194 St. Paul building, which will help mitigate parking loss on St. Paul during construction. Further plans and a neighborhood meeting will be announced shortly.

PINE ST: KILBURN TO LAKESIDE

Our water team is continuing to wrap up the two parallel water main upgrades (one of which was installed in 1894) on Pine between Kilburn and Lakeside. We will shift the two lanes of traffic from the west side of the road to the east. For approximately one week - during the week of July 30 - traffic will drive over the dirt section. During this winter’s accelerated deterioration of the roads, we learned even more about the soil conditions underneath Pine. It requires extensive compaction to avoid major future deterioration and that week of driving over the dirt will aid our efforts in providing a quality road to you. We will be doing extensive dust mitigation to prevent major impacts during this time. During the week of August 6th, we expect to resume paving operations.

OTHER IMPORTANT PROJECTS TO NOTE

Birch Ct and Cayuga Ave: Water main upgrades and sewer main work beginning this week followed by paving.

Church St (between Adams and Maple): We will begin this water main replacement project as early as August 1.

Colchester Ave: The water main upgrade continues from Barrett to Nash through August. Paving will likely now begin in early September, from Barrett to East Ave.

College Street: Paving work will take place in early August.

Ethan Allen Parkway (between North Ave and Lopes): The water main replacement is on pace to finish in early August. The line has passed significant milestones, including pressure testing.

Latham Ct: A water main upgrade has started on this street and may last through August.

Maple St: Water main relining between North Prospect and South Willard has started and may last through August.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Our attention is also squarely on our wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, especially in light of the recent infrastructure challenges at our wastewater plant. We will be communicating more about that reinvestment strategy to you shortly. In the meantime, you can read more about the system here: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/DPW/Water-Quality-History.